Liquid fuel burning heaters of the blue flame type



H. C, HEBARD Ilune 18, 1968 LIQUID FUEL BURNING HEATERS OF THE BLUE FLAME TYPE Filed 0G15. 14, 1966 INVENTOR Hwhf CHARLESHEBARD ma/QLMMW ATTORNEIS United States Patent O M' 3,388,961 LIQUID FUEL BURNING HEATERS F THE BLUE FLAME TYPE Hugh Charles Hebard, High Wycombe, England, assigner to Aladdin Industries Limited, Greenford, England, a British company Filed Oct. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 586,841 4 Claims. (Cl. 431-301) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An annular wick for use in a liquid fuel burning heater of the blue llame type has fixed to its exterior, at diametrically opposite points, two plates each formed with two longitudinally spaced projections, and an associated wick carrier, adapted to surround the wick and to be engaged lby wick-adjusting mechanism for raising and lowering the wick, is formed with upper and lower slots for cooperation with the projections on the wick whereby the wick may be secured to the carrier in two alternative positions, in the first of which the lower end of the wick projects from the carrier to facilitate its initial passage over the upper end of the central wick tube of the heater and in the second of which the lower end of the wick is coincident with the end of the carrier.

This invention relates to liquid fuel burning heaters of the blue ame type in which the annular wick is contained in a narrow annular wick space partly projecting below the bottom of the fuel reservoir. In this type of heater, due to the fact that the bottom edge of the wick may become flulied out to about twice its normal thickness, the fitting of a new wick can present some difficulty and it is the primary object of the invention to provide means to facilitate this operation.

According to the invention in its broadest aspect there 3,388,961 Patented June 18, 1968 ICC FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a'wick plate; and

FIGURE 4 is a part diagrammatic, part sectional view showing the Wick and carrier in position upon the wick tube of a heater.

The annular wick 1 has plates 2 secured to it at diametrically opposite points by means of integral tags 3 which pierce the wick fabric and are turned back upon the plate as seen in FIG. 2. Each plate 2 is formed with two longitudinally spaced upper and lower projections 4, 5 in the form of narrow ears which project outwardly at right angles to the plate.

is provided an annular wick for use in a liquid fuel burnf ing heater of the blue llame type having a wick carrier adapted to surround the wick and to be engaged by wickadjusting mechanism for raising and lowering the wick, the wick having fixed to its exterior at least one pair of longitudinally spaced `projections capable of being received in slots in the carrier in such manner that the Wick may be secured to the carrier in two alternative positions.

In such heaters, the wick in its carrier usually has to be passed over a central wick tube in order to reach the fuel reservoir and, in accordance with an important feature of the invention, the disposition of the projections on the wick relative to the slots in the carrier is such that in the irst of said alternative positions the lower end of the wick projects from the carrier to facilitate its initial passing over the upper end of the tube, while in the second position, the lower end of the wick is substantially coincident with the end of the carrier.

Furthermore, the invention contemplates the use, in such a heater and in conjunction with such a wick, of a wick carrier provided with at least one pair of longitudinally spaced slots for co-operation with a corresponding pair of projections, one of said slots being longer than the other and the arrangement being such that in the rst position the projections are respectively engaged in both slots and in the second position they are Iboth engaged in the longer slot.

An embodiment of the invention as applied to a blue llame oil heater will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view showing a wick secured to a wick carrier in one of two alternative positions;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section on the line II-II of FIG- URE 1;

The associated wick carrier 6 is shown in the form of a complete cylinder extending to the bottom of the wick but it may take the form of a shorter upper cylinder and a lbottom ring joined to the cylinder by two or more extension pieces. The exterior of the carrier 6 is formed with a rack 7 for engagement with the pinion of a conventional wick-adjusting mechanism (not shown). The carrier 6 is also formed with upper and lower slots, 8 and 9 respectively for co-operation with the projections 4 and 5 on the wick 1. In each case, the upper slot 8 is long enough to accommodate both projections at once but the lower slot 9 can only accommodate the lower projection 5. The upper projection 4 s rectangular but the lower one is triangular with the sloping side 10 uppermost.

The heater is formed with a narrow annular wick space or recess 11 partly projecting below the bottom of the fuel reservoir 12. The outside of this recess is deiined by the interior diameter of the fuel reservoir and is just sufficient to accommodate the wick 1 in its carrier 6. The inside of the recess is defined by a central wick tube 13. The passing of the wick 1 over the tube 13 presents the diiiiculty previously mentioned which diiiiculty is overcome in the way now to be explained.

The wick is initially fitted to the carrier 6 in a irst position, shown in FIG. 1, wherein the projections 4 and 5 on the wick engage respectively in the bottoms of the upper slots 8 and in the lower slots 9 in the carrier. In this position about half an inch of wick projects from the bottom of the wick carrier. This facilitates the passing of the wick over the top of the wick tube 13.

When about an inch of the wick is surrounding the tube 13, the top of the wick is held and the carrier 6 is made to slide down over the wick until a second position shown in FIG. 2 is reached wherein the bottom of the Wick is substantially coincident with the bottom of the carrier. As a result of this sliding movement, the lower projections 5 on the wick leave the lower slots 9 inthe carrier 6 and engage in the bottoms of the upper slots 8. The upper projections 4 merely slide inthe upper slots 8 so that eventually the wick and carrier are locked together in this second position bythe engagement of the upper and lower projections at opposite ends of the upper slots. This sliding movement is made possible by the fact that the plates 2 carrying the projections are still above the top of the wick tube 13 and is facilitated by the sloping tops 10 of the lower projections.

The wick and carrier can now be pushed down evenly over the wick tube until the rack 7 on the carrier engages the pinion on the wick-adjusting mechanism and thereafter the latter can be wound down to carry the assembly to the bottom of the annular recess 11.

I claim:

1. For use in a liquid fuel -burning heater of the blue flame type, the combination of an annular wick having fixed toits exterior at least one pair of longitudinally spaced projections and a wick carrier surrounding said wick having longitudinal slot means formed therein to receive said projections, said projections and slot means being so related that said projections may be selectively received in spaced portions of said slot means to selectively secure said wick in two relatively longitudinally displaced positions along said wick carrier.

2. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein the com bined wick and wick carrier are passed over a central wick tube to reach the fuel reservoir in said heater, and the disposition of said projections relative to said slot means is such that in a first of said positions the wick is secured to thc carrier with its lower end projecting from the carrier to facilitate its initial passage over the upper end of said tube and in the second of said positions the lower end of the wick is substantially coincident with the lower end of said carrier.

3. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein said slot means comprises an upper long slot and a shorter lower slot and said projections are so spaced that in a irst of said positions said projections are disposed in both slots and ina second position the projections are both disposed in the longer slot.

4. The invention as recited in claim 3, wherein the lower of said projections has an inclined upper edge to facilitate relative movement of the wick and carrier between said rst and second positions.

2/1913 Mills 67-65 3/ 1925 Spangler 67-60 JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner. 

